Coin
Coin, also known as The Leader and later the March Hare, 'is the primary antagonist of ''Wild Souls: Infinite Frontier and later a supporting anti-hero in Wild Souls: Criaturo Nocturno, as well as the deuteragonist of Wild Souls: Survival of the Fittest. He also makes a passing appearance in Wild Souls: Operation Bermuda. '' Coin (his last name is never given) is originally introduced as a shadowy figure, the leader of the organization known as '''The Collective. '''He is stated to have powers that rival even the likes of professional '''Animal-Spirit '''users, such as Ben and 'Marcus. He is feared throughout the Collective, even by individuals as strong as Kanaan. However, this is revealed to be a facade, and shortly afterward, Coin is nearly killed by Kanaan and other members of the Collective. At the brink of death, Coin vows to have his revenge on both the Collective and the United Association, unlocking the hidden power of his Animal-Spirit. He then embarks on a mission to destroy both organizations through his stealth and power. Coin is an Animal-Spirit user, and has fought using both March Hare '''and '''White Rabbit in the series. He is the only character in the series to wield an Animal-Spirit with two distinctly different forms. Appearance Coin is a tall and well-built young man with sharp features, brown eyes, and lengthy gray hair that spikes upwards in two absurdy long prongs, meant to emulate a hare's ears. He also sports large, spiked sideburns. While he is not the largest character in the series, he is taller than most others, and is shown to be very muscular. Initially, Coin wears a collection of tight bandages, faded in color, as a sort of bodysuit from his neck down, under a thick fur vest and white sash. He wears slippers for footwear. As Infinite Frontier progresses and he repeatedly abuses the power of his Animal-Spirit in order to become more powerful, Coin's appearance changes quickly and drastically. After suffering a brutal defeat at the hands of Kanaan and the rest of the Collective, he removes his bandages and dresses in a pair of dark blue running paints and a plain white t-shirt. After brutally defeating Ress and the rest of the Association's group sent to assassinate him, his eyes begin to turn red, either from blood or spiritual corruption. During an encounter with Headshot, his Animal-Spirit begins to solidify through intense blood lust, and proceed to merge with his skin in the form of a smooth, black, shiny material as he becomes a "half-man, half-beast". He also retains a large diagonal scar across his chest that was inflicted by Trailblazer. Later, when he engages in numerous near-suicide attempts in order to bring out more of inner Spirit power, his clothes become very torn and his skin and hair are increasingly darkened with blood, as well as the reflective black material of his Animal-Spirit, which progressively coats his body like a suit. After being attacked by Hue, 'Coin's body and hair become completely covered in the solid blackness of his dark Spirit, giving him the appearance of a humanoid rabbit. His eyes also complete their progression to a solid red, with barely discernible pupils of a slightly lighter shade. After suffering defeat at the hands of Ben, Coin disappears until he returns in ''Criaturo Nocturno with a drastically different appearance: his hair no longer spiked upward and instead falling behind his head in a ponytail, similar to his cousin, Rachel. He has also taken to wearing long-sleeved shirts, which he is seen in throughout the rest of the series with the exception of Survival of the Fittest, where he again sports bandages as a fighting uniform. Personality Coin is introduced as a villainous individual with a hatred for heroic Animal-Spirit users and is characterized as both sadistic, prideful, confident, ruthless, and brutal. He does not take kindly to affronts against himself or those he respects, and will attack any who dare to offend him or his allies. He originally thinks highly of himself ("the apex predator") and uses said assertion to threaten lower-ranking personnel in the Collective. One of the most prevailing personality traits Coin shows is his obsession with erasing any trace of his past life and keeping his actual identity a secret from the larger world. Coin believes the wrongs that exist in a person's past are something to be figuratively and literally pulverized in order for human beings to grow, and is having survived traumatic experiences in his past, Coin dreads of anyone learning of his true identity. Even in the Collective hierarchy, he goes to excessive length to hide his face, issuing orders through several underlings or by telephone so that nobody ever meets him in person. Although he is eventually believed to be Rachel's cousin, Rachel herself has stated that even she is unsure of their exact relation. After suffering a brutal and humiliating defeat (and nearly dying) at the hands of Kanaan, Coin doubles down on his previous traits and becomes determined and focused to the point of blood lust, vowing to stop at nothing to burn both the Collective and the United Association to the ground. He gradually loses portions of his sanity during his ridiculously intense training methods and his numerous near-death experiences. He eventually succumbs in full to his inner darkness, and completes a transformation into a cold, seemingly emotionless shell of a former human, driven by a singular goal. Coin shows no reservations in such acts as dismembering and disemboweling Kanaan, chopping off Polo's arms in an attempt to make him bleed to death, impaling Cory through the torso, and mercilessly beating both Allison and Hannah unconscious. He also attempts to kill Ben, but crumples under the latter's sonic shout. After these events occur, Coin reappears as a more stoic character. He rarely shows his true emotions throughout either Criaturo Nocturno or Survival of the Fittest. ''However, ''he occasionally gives into his feelings in order to benefit himself during a match. Coin also takes a more introspective and even philosophical outlook on his life as an Animal-Spirit user, which is shown in the change of his Spirit from the March Hare to the White Rabbit. Abilities '''Animal-Spirit: '''Coin has possessed a total of two Animal-Spirits in the series, having wielded '''March Hare as well as 'White Rabbit '(his current Spirit). March Hare grants Coin the following superhuman abilities: * "'State of Madness": '''March Hare's primarily ability. "State of Madness" activates when Coin is near death, flooding his body with a reserve of energy that drastically increases his strength, speed, durability, and senses. In this state, Coin heals from most prior injuries, but his consciousness is overruled by his Animal-Spirit, and his mind effectively blacks out while his body is controlled by March Hare. In the series, it takes Coin experiencing "State of Madness" six times before he regains a slimmer of consciousness. Once he has experienced it ten times, Coin can fully perceive anything that occurs during "State of Madness"; sixteen times allows him to control his body fully during "State". Starting at the fifth "State", Coin begins to notice March Hare beginning a physical manifestation on his person, eventually entrapping him in an ink-colored and extremely durable substance, an occurrence that is chalked up to Coin's own vengeful emotions mixing with the raw insanity of his Animal-Spirit. Every time Coin undergoes a "State of Madness", his resting power increases exponentially. By the climax of ''Infinite Frontier, Coin possesses the following sub-abilities: ** '''Extreme Speed: '''In control of March Hare, Coin is one of, if not the, fastest character in the series. Coin is able to move at speeds that make him imperceptible to vision, as well as essentially make everyone else "frozen" in comparison, a technique that he calls "time freeze". Coin is also fast enough, in pre-"State of Madness" form, to dodge strikes from a serious Kanaan. ** '''Superhuman Durability: '''At his peak, Coin's skin is entirely covered by March Hare's outer layer, and can take hits from the likes of Ben and Kanaan with little damage. He has also no-sold grenades, tank shells, missiles, and bombs with zero damage - an estimated total of five thousand weapons firing on him at once. He also survived Kanaan's Claw Rush, and is not killed in a "serious" fight with Ben as well as the latter's sonic shout. ** '''Superhuman Strength: '''Although Coin is never officially stated to have this power, he dispatches numerous high-ranking members of the Association and Collective over the course of the series, meaning he is at least in the top tenth percentile of strength. ** '''Superhuman Agility/Reflexes: '''Coin can dodge punches thrown at minimally 150 m/s, and freely dodges attacks invisible to the human eye. Unlike Ben, Coin's thought process is just as fast as his physical speed. Coin also can be immeasurably precise with his movements when necessary, easily dispatching many of the Association without killing them. ** '''Superhuman Hearing: '''Coin has stated that briefly during his fight with Ben, he could hear everything happening on the Earth at the same time. Briefly afterward, he was deafened by his opponent's sonic shout. ** '''Superhuman Stamina: '''Coin can maintain speeds five times as fast as the speed of sound for hours on end. ** '''Healing Factor: '''Although Coin has stated he does not heal in the same way as Hannah or Ben do, he has fully recovered from near-death numerous times. After Coin is defeated by Ben, March Hare disappears. As a result, Coin permanently loses access to "State of Madness" as a way to inflate his power, as well as his healing factor. Coin also states that he lost around half of his prior power at this time. Coin eventually gains a new but not dissimilar Animal-Spirit in the form of White Rabbit. White Rabbit grants Coin one new ability: * '''Teleportation: '''Coin is able to instantly teleport from one area to the next using White Rabbit, a technique he refers to as "jumping down the rabbit-hole". Coin has stated his teleportation is true teleportation, and not an optical illusion, such as utilizing super-speed to make it appear as if he is moving instantaneously. Coin cannot teleport anyone but himself, and is limited to a distance of two miles. Additionally, Coin requires one second between each teleport to initiate the next teleport. White Rabbit has also apparently partially restored Coin's strength, durability, reflexes, and speed. His superhuman hearing is also fully restored. '''Fighting Skills: '''Ben has stated that although he is far stronger, Coin surpasses him in fighting skill. '''Acting: '''Coin was able to convince numerous individuals in the Collective that he was far more powerful than he was.